New York officials say they found no traces of salmonella in a Long Island pistachio processing plant whose sister company sparked a nationwide recall of the nut last week. ...more

April 10, 2009

Christopher Barnard of Tarpon Springs says he hopes op-ed page columnist James Hibbs, a student at the University of Florida, is not representative of today's youth. Hibbs opposed the Proposition 2 constitutional amendment. ...more

November 15, 2008

The Tampa Bay Water board voted Monday to sue the three companies that designed or built the now-crack-ridden wall of the C.W. Bill Young Reservoir. ...more

October 21, 2008

I was sent a letter posted on the Sun 'n Lake commentary Web site written by a Joe Eck. It was a plea for Guy Maxcy's re-election to the county commission, repeating Maxcy's campaign theme of "Please, just four more years." I wonder how many readers know why another term is so necessary for Maxcy? Maybe Eck and others know that if Maxcy gets 20 years in he becomes eligible for a retirement benefit? In other words, he gets paid for not working and we the taxpayers have to fork over monthly public funds to him. ...more

October 15, 2008

Attorneys for the five teens accused of beating one of their peers in Lakeland and videotaping with the intent to post online were at a court hearing today in Bartow. ...more

July 8, 2008

AVON PARK — Ann Romney doesn't like to talk about politics, but she did tell a crowd of about 125 that her husband, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is the kind of man who loves his family. "His children and grandchildren are what makes his life rich and fulfilled," his wife said. They've known each other since elementary school, said Ann Romney, 58, an attractive, slender blonde in a black pantsuit and silver pearls. She appeared at Iris & Butterflies, 207 Circle Park Drive, on Wednesday morning, and spent an hour talking to the crowd that gathered in the back room. ...more

January 24, 2008

CRYSTAL SPRINGS - He was a history buff, both about the place he lived and the family he loved. ...more

December 19, 2007

LAKE PLACID — In July, the 70 customers of Sebring Lakes won their water rate battle with Aqua Utilities, a Philadelphia water company. Some customers who were paying $10 or $20 a month were suddenly getting bills for $180 or $190 a month. But although the Florida Public Service Commission demanded a refund for Sebring Lakes residents, the money still hasn't come, said Jane Barnard, who lives on Tangelo. "They have not paid back one single penny," said Barnard, a senior citizen who lives with her husband, Floyd, in the small subdivision between Sebring and Lake Placid, just a block from U.S. 27. The residents are mostly middle-class retirees who live in two-or-three bedroom concrete block homes. ...more

November 16, 2007

SEBRING — Ricky Singer donned a hair net Wednesday morning as he stood in front of the Sweetbay's meat department in Sebring. ...more

October 17, 2007